US President Joe Biden has taken jabs at former president Donald Trump with jokes about the mental fitness of his election opponent during a speech at the Gridiron Club dinner, a Washington tradition that began in the 1880s.

Biden’s appearance on Saturday at the dinner, in which politicians and journalists trade humorous barbs in a white-tie formal affair, was the first time a president has attended in person since former president Donald Trump in 2018.

Biden, 81, recently clinched the Democratic Party’s nomination for this year’s presidential election and will face off against Trump, 77, in a rematch in November.

Biden is trying to court voters, boost his low approval ratings and allay concerns that he is too old to run again.

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“One candidate is too old and mentally unfit to be president,” Biden said on Saturday.

“The other one is me.”

Biden’ delivered his speech in front of more than 650 guests including the Taoiseach of Ireland Leo Varadkar, Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, whose US business could be banned by Biden.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump has also questioned Biden’s mental capacity to be president.

Biden reinforced the importance of the press, which he said was not “the enemy of the people”, in stark contrast to previous remarks by Trump about the news media.

He also spoke about the war in Ukraine with Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, who attended Saturday’s dinner.

“We will not bow down, they (Ukrainians) will not bow down and I will not bow down,” Biden said.

After his speech, Biden descended to the floor, took selfies with reporters and called one guest’s mother.

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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, representing the Democratic Party at the event, also spoke on Saturday, as well as Utah Governor Spencer Cox, representing the Republican Party.

Cox, 48, joked that he was announcing his candidacy for the presidency “in 2052 when I still will be younger than both President Biden and president Trump”.

Turning more serious, he said there was a hunger among Americans for something more positive in politics.

The club’s 65 members, all representatives from news organisations, performed satirical songs and skits.

One song poked fun at Biden’s and Trump’s ages to the tune of When I’m Sixty Four by The Beatles.

At the 2023 dinner, Mike Pence, who served as vice president under Trump, offered a forceful rebuke of his one-time boss, saying history would hold Trump accountable for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Unlike its sister event, the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April, the Gridiron dinner is not televised and tries to retain its yesteryear vibe with men in white tie and tails and women in long dresses.

No photos are allowed during the dinner and participants are asked not to post on social media until after it has concluded.

-Reuters